What to Know
- NYPD Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo, 41, was shot and killed while responding to a home invasion in the Bronx Friday, officials say
- Another sergeant, Emmanuel Kwo, 30, was also shot; he has since been released from the hospital
- The suspect, 35-year-old Manuel Rosales, was killed in the shootout with police; he has 17 prior arrests in Suffolk, police say
Hundreds of uniformed colleagues, relatives and friends gathered Wednesday to pay tribute to the 41-year-old NYPD sergeant and father of two shot in the head while confronting a home invasion suspect in the Bronx last week.
Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo, a 19-year NYPD veteran, died Friday after he was shot while trying to apprehend a 35-year-old man who held his family hostage in Van Nest. Another NYPD officer was grazed in the leg; he has since been released from the hospital. The suspect, Manuel Rosales, was killed.
A line of blue stretched out the Fredrick J. Chapey & Sons Funeral Home in Bethpage as police officers from across the area paid their respects to Tuozzolo.
Former partner Yalcin Kiyar, who worked the late shift with Tuozzolo at NYPD's 43rd Precinct, called him a "great cop" and a "wonderful father."
"My wife was heartbroken, I was heartbroken," Kiyar recalled of getting the news of Tuozzolo's death. "I remember when Paul was dating his wife. We had met them at a restaurant. It's just heartbreaking."
Mayor de Blasio, who last week ordered all flags on city buildings to fly at half-staff until Tuozzolo is laid to rest, was among the mourners at the wake.
Earlier in the day, NYPD Commissioner Jimmy O'Neill and his predecessor Bill Bratton joined the officers inside the funeral home.
The family of Wenjian Liu -- the NYPD officer who was killed alongside his partner Rafael Ramos as they sat in their squad car two years ago -- was also at the wake, hugging officers outside.
A funeral Mass will be held Thursday at St. Rose of Lima in Massapequa.
At a vigil over the weekend, blue and white candles flickered quietly below three balloons as part of a makeshift memorial, where a delegation of Patrolmen's Benevolent Association officials laid bouquets of flowers.
Tuozzolo is the fifth NYPD officer to be shot to death in the line of duty in the last two years.
Rosales' estranged wife said the shooting was "something that should have been prevented."
In a lengthy Facebook post, Tia Rosales blamed the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office for allowing her husband to be released on bail following an arrest earlier this year.
"I'm devastated," she said in the post. "This is something that should have been prevented and could have been prevented time and time again."
